One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Littleton should be used to figure out when you can plant lupine.

Planting Calendar for Lupine

Frost tolerance for lupine:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant lupine just a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant lupine in Littleton is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lupine and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your lupine may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your lupine indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Littleton the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Littleton is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Littleton it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your lupine in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Littleton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Littleton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Littleton.